Public Letter to the DTG Memo

I'm writing this based on my current feelings about DTG. I am aware that other people share these feelings, and have influenced mine. I am aware that others may not necessarily share these feelings.  But I'm writing this to let you all know my opinion - my opinion about the current state of an entity that has, for better or for worse, shaped the latter portion of my life.

This may sound controversial to some, but I'm urging you to at least consider my words, and at the very best, to act upon them. The worst thing we can do is nothing.

Here are my opinions.

1. DTG is dying, and the majority of people are not doing anything about it. I'm going to be quite frank with all of you when I say that, and trust me when I say that for a long time, I was in that majority. I didn't want to disturb the peace that there is, however fragile it is. But look at what's been going on. The most innocuous of arguments turn into flamewars. There are frequent conversations on how prevalent plot tumors are, how broken the plot is, and how things can generally be improved on. But barring a few cases, no one's taken action on actually improving things.

2. Update droughts never used to be a thing. But they're here now, and they're incredibly common. My goal here is to try and change things, and to list my problems, but at the same time I legitimately think this is a problem that is unavoidable and unfixable. I just genuinely think that as time goes on, and the work required of us piles up, we have less time to funnel into DTG. And I understand how dangerous transferring ownership of a game can be. But, at the same time, you have to understand that this is one of the main causes of DTG's decline.

3. DTG0 has caused more than its fair share of shitstorms. I don't exactly know how this is such a repeated occurrence, and as such, I am not quite sure who to blame, if anyone. But the fact remains that there has been, in my opinion, large amounts of community backlash towards specific events in the game. I would list examples, but I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. I don't understand what makes 0rigins in particular a game predisposed to this level of community backlash, but it is there, and it is incredibly noticeable.

4. The balance of power in DTG0 is skewed. Massively. As I'm typing this I'm now thinking that this might be a contributing factor to all of the above points. Throughout DTG0's lifespan - to me, at least - it seems that the battlefield is always dominated by a single faction. What this faction is changes throughout specific times. Remember when the PZs had Chara, a one-hit kill machine? Now, the current focus of power seems to be locked solely on the Godslayers.

To the Godslayers, let me reiterate what I told you before - I don't think Zerisek was a very good idea. I appreciate the intent to go all-out, and to do something monumental. And trust me, it's no easy feat, and deserves to be rewarded in full. But the problem is that it CAN'T be. The game won't allow it. When you have entities as complicated as Zerisek - Mikoto is another example - it puts far too much strain on everyone involved. I'm particularly talking about the GM here, and trust me, as a GM, I know how malicious complicated entities can get, even if it's unintentional.

The result is that you have an entity dominating the field that has literally killed the unkillable and spawned an event that some view as punishment for that act. A punishment that has downspiraled into a cataclysmic behemoth. I'm not quite sure if Yuuki-chan was intended as punishment for the actions of the Godslayers, but if it was, then let me tell you that that is a dick move. You should not punish everyone for the actions of the few. (Though, to be honest, you can hardly call the Godslayers "the few" at this point.) DTG is designed to be challenging and a little cruel - but not completely unreasonable. There is a reason 'the players always win.'

5. DTG0 is fundamentally flawed. This might be the hardest thing to swallow, but hear me out. Fseftr brought this up, once. Way back on the old memo. He said he didn't see DTG0 working, because no one would want to play a prequel. (I think that's what he said, at any rate.) We all thought it was nonsense. Now? I'm not so sure. The idea of a prequel was flawed from the beginning. In a game where player interaction is key, you run the risk of things going incredibly off the rails and therefore erasing all of continuity. This is a problem Tazz had the foresight to deal with, in the form of timeloops and such - but that has only caused more problems.

It has created a snarl of canon, not to mention the fact that there are two alpha timelines - and the fact that the revelation of this game taking place after DTG2's timeline wasn't shown until partway through the game invalidated anyone trying to play it as a prequel. Like me. The whole concept of timeloops has made everyone incredibly unsure of the timeline, including Crystal with regards to Terraria, and is one of the reasons why the reboot exists.

Not to mention the insane serial escalation. I said earlier that I feel DTG as a setting is unavoidably predisposed towards serial escalation, simply because of the idea of players being able to fight anything. That 'anything' keeps getting bigger and badder, and people keep discovering new ways to be powerful, which adds up over time - and exponentially, too. It's a freight train that I don't think we can stop unless we artifically limit it. But then again, you can't just limit the game while it's going. It would disrupt the flow. (If there's even a flow at all. Slow update speeds and serial escalation skyrocketing everything seem to disprove this.)
If that last point sounded a bit harsh, then let me amend that by saying I personally don't think any one person is at fault for it. Timefuckery is a cruel beast to deal with, no matter what. And serial escalation, in my opinion, is a natural byproduct of the players' and GM's interactions with the game - in other words, there's nothing we could have done to stop it.

Now. Those are my opinions. And with all that said, my diagnosis of DTG0 is that, in this state - with its flaws, with its slow update speeds, and with all of the above put in text - I do not see it ending naturally. It pains me to say it, trust me. But it's what I truly believe.

I do not want to see it happening, trust me. I want to see the game thrive. I think we all do. If you DON'T want to see DTG be successful (or are actively opposed to it continuing) then I question why you're here at all, to be honest. All of us - myself included - have put far too much into this game to see it die here and now.

Which brings us to the final point. The solution. And it might pain you all to hear this, but I don't have one.

I don't know how to fix DTG0. Some part of me isn't sure if we can. BUT. I am not giving up hope. I am confident in all of your abilities. Which is why I've made this letter. To let all of you know the issue at hand. I've tried to word this as plainly and calmly as I can. I want to avoid a shitstorm. I want to avoid discord. What I strive to see is sensible discussion on how to deal with this issue - because there are issues, make no mistake.

I want everyone to come together, and determine how to fix this. We can't go on ignoring it any longer. I want to see the issue resolved NOW, rather than see the game gradually spiral and taper off into nothingness weeks and months down the line.

That's all from me. Thanks for reading.

TL;DR: There is none. Read it.